APRIL 27, 2016
At New College, ‘Softcops’ Explores Spectacle, Surveillance and Individuality
New College of Florida’s Windmill Theatre Company presents Softcops, by Caryl Churchill, directed by Nova Myhill, associate professor of English. Performances will be held in the College’s Black Box Theatre on April 28-30 at 7:30 p.m. and May 1 at 2:00 p.m.
Beginning with a public execution that turns into a riot, and ending with an idyllic beach scene under armed guard, Softcops explores the power of spectacle and surveillance to impose both physical and ideological controls over the individual. The play reveals the creation of the narratives and fantasies through which people voluntarily surrender their individuality to become defined by an institution – the prison, the school, the asylum: “They will all be normal in time.”
Windmill’s production of Softcops positions the play in our media-saturated environment, in which social media provides an inescapable funhouse mirror of society and identity is a commodity available for purchase.
This production is made possible in part by the John M. Roewert Memorial Fund for Theater and Drama at New College. The performance contains some violence.
Reservations can be made by emailing [email protected].
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New College of Florida is a national leader in the arts and sciences and is the State of Florida’s designated honors college for the liberal arts. Consistently ranked among the top public liberal arts colleges in America by U.S. News & World Report, Forbes and The Princeton Review, New College attracts highly motivated, academically talented students from 38 states and 23 foreign countries. A higher proportion of New College students receive Fulbright awards than graduates from virtually all other colleges and universities.
